Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 339 



Head moderate, with slender and pointed snout ; suborbital bones well 

 developed ; nostrils separated by a membranous partition ; mouth rather 

 large, oblique, reaching to beyond front of eye; teeth in each jaw in 

 1 series, compressed and conical, some of the lower teeth enlarged near 

 symphysis ; teeth of maxillary extending along nearly its entire edge, 

 small, compressed, and multicuspid; teeth on palate undescribed, proba- 

 bly wanting; gill openings broad, the membranes separate and free. Dor- 

 sal fin short, behind ventrals ; anal moderate ; pectorals moderate. One 

 species, apparently allied to the South American genus, Salminus, but the 

 teeth uniserial, not biserial. (Brama, bream; Charax, for Characin.) 



568. BRAMOCHARAX BRANSFORDI, Gill. 



Head 3f ; depth 2| : eye large, 4 in head. D. 11; A. II, 26; V. 1, 8. Snout 

 somewhat longer than eye, attenuated and projecting slightly beyond 

 chin; maxillaries much decurved, reaching beyond middle of eye; Physi- 

 ognomy of subgenus Astyanax, (Tetragonopterus). Scales and color unde- 

 scribed. Lake Nicaragua. (Gill.) (Named for Dr. J.F. Bransford.) 



Bramocharax bransfordi, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1877, 190, Lake Nicaragua. 



145. LUCIOCHARAX, Steindachner. 



Luciocharax, STEINDACHNER, Fisch-fauua des Magdalenen-stromes; 67, 1878, (insculptus). 



Head and body elongate, the belly rounded ; surface of head bony ; 

 snout produced, conical; jaws very long, each armed with 1 series of 

 very small teeth with the points directed backward; maxillary short, with 

 teeth ; many small teeth on the palate. Gill membranes free and separate. 

 Scales not very small; lateral line incomplete. Dorsal behind ventrals 

 and behind middle of body ; dorsal and anal extended backward. Intes- 

 tinal canal short. One species. (Lucius, pike ; Charax, used for Characin. ) 



569. LUCIOCHARAX INSCULPTUS, Steindachner. 



Head 3; depth 6 ; eye 9 in head. D. II, 8 ; A. Ill, 9 ; P. 20 ; scales 44, 10 

 in transverse series, the lateral line on 20 to 24. Body elongate ; all the 

 bones of the head sculptured; snout long and narrow. Grayish, sides 

 silvery, a black spot edged with pale at base of caudal. Length a foot. 

 Rio Magdalena and Eio Mamoni, (near Panama). (Steindachnei.) 

 (insculptus, chiseled.) 



Luciocharax insculptus, STEINDACHNEK, Fisch-fauna des Magdalenen-stromes, 67, 1878, Rio Mag- 

 dalena and Rio Mamoni. 



Suborder GYMNONOTI. 



Body more or less elongate and eel-like, with many vertebrae. Shoulder 

 girdle suspended from the skull; parietal bones distinct, largely in con- 

 tact; pterotic normal; symplectic bone present; opercular bones com- 

 plete ; mouth with its upper edge formed chiefly by the premaxillaries ; 

 no praecoracoid or interclavicles; anterior vertebras united, modified, and 

 with the ossicula auditus, as in the Nematognathi and the other Plectospon- 

 dyli. Superior pharyngeal bones simple. Dorsal fin wanting or reduced 

 to an adipose strip. Vent near the head, the anal fin being exceedingly 



